2014 Super Bowl Trailers: What to Expect During the Big Game

Football fans are no doubt excited for the 2014 Super Bowl, but even non-sports fans can find something to enjoy. No, we’re not talking about Bruno Mars, we’re talking about the Super Bowl movie trailers that will be airing during the commercial breaks. With the 2014 Super Bowl set to air on FOX at 6pm on February 2, we thought now would be the perfect time to run through what we know is going to debut during the big game and what surprises could still be in store.

Michael Bay confirmed last month that the first ‘Transformers 4′ trailer would run during the 2014 Super Bowl with another theatrical trailer arriving shortly thereafter. What can we expect to see in the big ‘Transformers: Age of Extinction’ reveal? Hopefully our first look at the rumored Dinobots. Bay’s ‘Transformers’ films haven’t always been the most satisfying movie experiences, but they do give good trailer. Expect the :30 ‘Transformers 4′ trailer to run during the first quarter.

Also confirmed in December was that Sony had purchased a 2014 Super Bowl slot for a new ‘Amazing Spider-Man 2′ trailer. Unlike ‘Transformers 4,’ we’ve already seen a handful of ‘Amazing Spider-Man 2′ footage, so we don’t anticipate a major reveal, more like a solid condensing of the existing trailer. It’s possible they’ll use this spot to give more exposure to Rhino and/or Green Goblin, but a safer bet is more concentration on the Spider-Man/Electro battle that has been at the center of the marketing campaign so far.

The ‘Captain America 2′ trailer (and sneak peek with ‘Thor: The Dark World’) was very well-received and Disney and Marvel have opted to capitalize on that buzz in advance of the film’s April release with a 2014 Super Bowl spot. The Helicarrier crash is the big money shot spectacle that goes over well in Super Bowl trailers, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see that as a part of Disney and Marvel’s just-confirmed ‘Captain America 2′ Super Bowl trailer.

‘Draft Day’

The NFL-approved ‘Draft Day’ (which follows the fictional events leading up to and during the NFL Draft for Cleveland Browns GM, Sonny Weaver (Kevin Costner)) is as much of a slam dunk as anything. Lionsgate has confirmed they will run a new trailer for the film during the Super Bowl pregame. The NFL rarely grants Hollywood the license to use its teams, logos and properties in film (‘Jerry Maguire’ is the last one we can think of), so it would’ve been foolish if they didn’t try to capitalize on the Super Bowl to cross-promote to a football-loving audience.

While a ‘Need for Speed’ Super Bowl trailer has yet to be confirmed, there are a few signs pointing in that direction. For one, we know Disney has purchased ad time during the 2014 Super Bowl (‘Need for Speed’ is a DreamWorks film, but is being released by Walt Disney Pictures). Second, ‘Need for Speed’ opens just over a month after the Super Bowl airs and the added promotion could give it the most real impact (in terms of box-office and awareness). Finally, it just seems to fit. Universal had previously used the Super Bowl to advertise it’s flagship racing franchise, but with ‘Fast and Furious 7′ pushed to 2015, the landscape is wide open for ‘Need for Speed’ to hit that demographic.

UPDATE: New word says that Disney is actively trying to acquire a third spot during the 2014 Super Bowl, with speculation that they will use that time to publicly reveal the first ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ trailer. The previous two spots will go to ‘Captain America 2′ and ‘Need For Speed’ and the only additional film on their 2014 slate that would make sense for such an expensive buy is their other Marvel film this summer.

UPDATE # 2: Unfortunately, ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ director James Gunn tweeted that there will be no Super Bowl trailer after all:

For those of you asking about a #gotg Super Bowl spot, there will not be one but we will have something incredibly awesome for you soon.

With Sony’s purchased time, they’d be wise to give one last push to the ‘RoboCop’ remake, which opens 10 days after the 2014 Super Bowl. The film has been tracking on the low end and a big Super Bowl trailer could give it a significant enough boost to its opening weekend numbers. It doesn’t hurt that, to date, Sony has been aggressively promoting the film during the NFL playoffs.

Lionsgate has purchased time during the 2014 Super Bowl pre-game show and the only film on their roster that would make sense to pay all that money to advertise is their big summer movie, ‘The Expendables 3.’ The early teaser for the film was very much a tease, showing us no actual footage and a 2014 Super Bowl trailer could fix that, giving audiences their first look at Stallone, Schwarzenegger and Statham alongside newcomers like Harrison Ford and Mel Gibson.

20th Century Fox has made a habit out of not commenting on their Super Bowl ad buys, so at this point, we don’t even know if they have purchased a spot or what they plan to do with it. BUT…the 2014 Super Bowl airs on FOX, so why not use their own time to advertise one of their own movies. If a 20th Century Fox movie were to be promoted, it could be the upcoming ‘X-Men’ film, which promises to be one of the biggest movies of the summer. Or…

One could argue that ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ will be one of the biggest movies of the summer regardless of a 2014 Super Bowl trailer. If Fox wanted to promote one of its up-and-coming properties (one with considerably less star power), they could promote this summer’s ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.’ Fox has enough faith in this film to already start developing the upcoming sequel, so why not show off a variation on the teaser trailer?

‘Neighbors’

With ‘Fast and Furious 7′ pushed to 2015, Universal doesn’t have any obvious blockbusters in 2014 and nothing that makes perfect sense for a Super Bowl trailer. But, if they were looking to sneak in, the Seth Rogen/Zac Efron comedy could fit. It doesn’t have to be an action-packed franchise movie to win over Super Bowl audiences – just look at the rest of the commercials. The ones that traditionally get rated the highest are the funniest ones.

‘Hercules’

MGM has been out of the game for so long, they’re barely considered one of the big movie studios anymore, but they do have the rare big movie coming up. Starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, ‘Hercules’ could be MGM’s chance to make a big splash with their only major movie of the year.

What You WON’T See

Warner Bros. has opted to sit out this year so one Super Bowl trailer you won’t see (which is one we were really hoping we would see) is ‘Godzilla.’ This also puts ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ and ‘Jupiter Ascending’ out as well.

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